November 2013

THE RHA REPORT
October/November 2013
Foothill Folks Flip For Fancy
Fondue Fun Night
By Michelle Kim
Held in the Stern Main Lounge on September 18, the night started off at 9PM
with a ballroom dancing lesson, followed by an open dance floor for casual dancing
until midnight. There was also a concurrent showing of The Great Gatsby in the
Hillside TV Lounge. As the event was open to all of Unit 4, residents from Foothill,
Bowles, and Stern were able to enjoy chocolate fondue, classy dancing, and socializing
with new people.
The event was all the more enjoyable since guests had gotten in the spirit of
Fancy Fondue Fun Night and had dressed up in formal wear, including dresses, suits
and ties. “The event really depended on how much the residents would participate and
their enthusiasm for a classy fun night out,” said Allison Reichl, the Social Vice
President of Foothill Hall Association.
The ballroom dancing workshop, taught by instructors from Berkeley
Ballroom Dance, was a highlight of the evening. Though many residents were
unfamiliar with ballroom dancing, the instructors got everyone excited to learn, and
residents danced with partners they had never met before. It was an evening of meeting
new people and trying new things, and the Stern Main Lounge was busy until the very
end of the night.
For more Foothill fun, check out their upcoming Hunger Games Weekend,
taking place on November 21-22. Festivities will include a showing of the first
Hunger Games movie in the Foothill TV lounge at 8 pm on Thursday, and a Hunger
Games LARP (Live-Action Role Play), open to all residents, from 10:30 to midnight
on Friday.
If you’re interested in the LARP, sign up online at
http://tinyurl.com/hungergameslarp.
Casa Magdalena Mora celebrates
the Day of the Dead
By Alex Villanueva
Note: For the purposes of this article, the @ symbol is meant to be a marker of
inclusivity
Día de l@s Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a tradition heavily adored and
celebrated from October 31st through November 2nd every year. The purpose of the
event is to pray and commemorate loved ones who have passed. There is, however,
much more to the Latin American tradition than the simplicity of that description.
On November 2nd from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM, at Anna Head Hall, several
student organizations held festivities to honor the holiday. Amongst the coordinators
of these student organizations were Humberto “Beto” Ortiz, the Theme Program
Assistant of the Casa Magdalena Mora theme program (located on the first floor of
Beverly Cleary Hall), Lupe Gallegos Diaz of the Chicano-Latino Student
Development Department, and Chicano Studies Professor Celia Rodriguez. Their
intention was simple: to reach out to various performers and ceremony leaders for the
evening’s festivities. Beto, however, had a more specific objective: to get the
residents of the Casa Magdalena Mora floor to create the main Altar, or spiritual
shrine, which would pay respects to Magdalena Mora, and to have them, additionally,
create Nichos; personal shrines dedicated to someone or something that has passed or
been lost.
Cont. on page 2
Residents
create
coloring books for a
worthy cause
By Diana Martinez
Coloring for a Cause took
place Sunday November 3rd. This event
was available for people at Café 3,
Crossroads, Clark Kerr, and Foothill
Dining Commons from 5pm to 9pm.
The main purpose of this event was to
create coloring books for children at the
Oakland Children’s Hospital. Residents
or anyone who went to these dining
halls had the opportunity to create their
own creative coloring book while
entering, or leaving the dining hall. All
materials were provided, including
markers,
blank
coloring
pages,
construction paper, and yarn. In order to
create the coloring book people would
choose five blank coloring pages and
then would create a cover with the
markers given. After that was done they
would punch hole the pages and put
their book together with yarn. After four
hours of people participating, Coloring
for a Cause was a great success. Many
people were able to have fun and destress while helping a great cause.
Thanks to the great help of NRHH for
coordinating the event, and to all the
participants of Coloring for a Cause.
Want to share a story about your hall? Contact our Public Relations committee at [email protected]. We’ll work with you to tell the residence halls about your event. Day of the Dead celebration is lively, vibrant
The purpose of Dia de l@s Muertos, as Beto phrased it: “[to] connect with a larger history […] of being a Chicano-Latino
in the United States and understanding that there is a […] history of violence that is connected to the death of many Chican@Latin@ folks in the United States and other people of color or marginalized peoples; that there are certain historical, structural
reasons as to why certain people’s deaths are connected to. The theme of the event was in commemoration of the 40th anniversary
of the Chilean coup d’etat […] and how folks died fighting for social justice. That’s part of what the night was commemorating: to
keep our history alive, and in maintaining our history, maintaining the legacy of those that have passed before us, especially those
who have died fighting for social justice.”
The night went as planned. Folks from their respective communities came down to the hall for a night full of singing,
dancing, praying, and hot tamales afterwards. From a personal stand point, a sense of spiritual and emotional relief was felt and the
night was, ironically, full more of life than death itself.
Cal Pays a Visit to RHA’s
All-Hall-O-Ween
the Warriors at goes frighteningly well
By Justin Morris
Oracle Arena!
One Thursday in late October, the residence halls echoed with the
By Pranit Kapoor
What a night! The Warriors dominated
the Kings 98-87! On November 2nd, six hundred
students from all the residence halls, including
myself, had an amazing night. We were lucky
enough to witness the Warriors play some of the
best basketball of their season so far. The splash
brothers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, hit
eight 3-pointers between them while Andrew
Bogut was a strong defensive presence and also
had an unforgettable alley-oop dunk!
It was an event organized by RAs
enthusiastic for residents to get exposure to
basketball so credit goes to them. However, it
also goes to RHA as the tickets were subsidized
by RHA and were only ten dollars for residents.
On top of that it was great experience for us
residents as we were forced to get familiar with
the BART, as it was the most effective way of
getting to the arena. For me personally, I had
never taken the BART before, so it was great to
do so because I will probably need to use it many
more times in the future.
What was great about this event was that
it was offered to all residence halls and instead of
being separated from each other I felt that it was
great to be united and get to know people from
other residence halls. Finally, when talking to
residents from different halls, all I got was
positive response. One resident said, “It was an
experience that I will never forget! Once I get a
job, I may even consider getting season passes
and going for many more games. However, the
cheap price for the seat was great and I would
love for it to happen again later on this year!”
sounds of 600 happy children. The kids, dressed in a wide assortment of
costumes, swept from building to building, greeting residents at every door
with a resounding “Trick-or-treat!” After their tour of the halls, the
children gathered in common areas to enjoy their candy and take a muchdeserved rest. The oldest children even braved the Bowles haunted house,
a residence hall tradition that draws a huge crowd of residents and children
alike every year.
The event is known as All-Hall-O-Ween, and is one of the large
events put on by the Residence Hall Assembly every year. Over 600
residents signed up to take part in the festivities, acting as tour guides,
candy distributors, and bus leaders. Feedback from these residents was
overwhelmingly positive, and many said that they only wished they had
more kids to whom they could hand out candy.
In addition, RHA hosted a floor-decorating contest, giving
residents the chance to flex their creative muscles and come up with the
scariest or most creative Halloween decorations they could think of. The
first- and second-place winners were awarded a gourmet cupcake party and
a pizza party, respectively.
If you missed out on the Halloween fun this year, make sure to
sign up next October, and keep an eye out for more RHA events in the
future, like Bearfest! Bearfest is an event that separates the rich history of
the Free Speech Movement in Berkeley, and recognizes the important role
of People’s Park in that movement. Come out to the park this Sunday from
noon to 4 for free Top Dog, henna artists, an obstacle course, and lots more
fun!